A group of friends and I rented this beautiful thatched cottage for a weekend of reading books. It was very cold outside but we enormously enjoyed sitting around the fire reading and preparing big meals in the wonderfully spacious kitchen. Communication from the hosts was exemplary and it was clear that a lot of thought and care had gone into the experience of their guests. I can't really speak to the surrounding area because we spent most of the time indoors but it was absolutely perfect for our needs - thanks!

We had such an amazing time at the cottage. It was perfectly set up for our group of 14 family members - 9 adults and 5 children (and a dog). The kids absolutely loved the treehouse, the ping pong and board games. They also adored playing hide and seek all around the cottage and beautiful gardens. They even learned to throw the boomerang! The adults all had an incredible time and the cottage was so well set up for a comfortable family reunion. Every single one of us loved it and we can't thank you guys enough. It's a charming place to stay and we were all very sad to leave!

Stunning thatched cottage in the heart of the North Devon countryside. Perfect for 3 generations with lots of space and a lovely garden. Everything provided for a stress free stay including bikes, toy cupboard and surf boards for the grandchildren. One suggestion, perhaps a small sign at top of road as we drove straight past it! Would highly recommend Hollands to anyone looking for an escape from the grind of daily life.

5 star.

It was all very straightforward forward.

Had a great week at Hollands over Easter. Spacious house for a large family and nice walks and beaches nearby.

It was all and more then we expected certainly recommend . Grandchildren loved every nook and cranny

We have just had the loveliest much needed family Christmas at Holland. Lovely decorated tree in situ, cosy rooms and a kitchen big enough for everyone to do their bit towards Christmas lunch! Thank you so much for having us all.

Lovely few days on a short break with our daughters. Delightful quirky cottage and gardens set in a very quiet countryside. We were very lucky with weather in November and enjoyed a couple of days at Saunton and Croyde, Enjoyed sitting around the clean spacious kitchen and sitting around log burner plaigsmes snd relaxing,

My family and I, total of eleven, spent a week here, and it was nothing short of fantastic. An absolutely wonderful family home set in beautiful grounds. After a really horrid year we've spent a lovely week catching up with family and making memories we won't forget. Would absolutely recommend. Robert and jacqui from liverpool

Hollands was a lovely holiday home for the week with four teens and two adults. Beautiful garden and curious bullocks in the surrounding fields entertained us. There are board games, table tennis, books and TV for wetter weather. The house is lovely and cool when it's hot outside and the Aga in the kitchen keeps that warm when needed. The bedrooms are all a good size and beds comfy. Kitchen knives could do with sharpening as the but that is the only issue we had! A great base from which to explore the local Devon coast and countryside and a lovely village pub nearby.

Overall, great location for exploring North Devon and the property was an excellent size for seven adults. The house is super charming, we loved cooking breakfasts on the Aga and sitting around the long farmhouse table. The gardens are so lovely to walk around and sit and read in, and it's a novelty to have such friendly cows greet you every time you return home. The only thing we felt lacking was some communal space aside from the kitchen table for us all to comfortably gather as a group, especially since we were quite unlucky with the weather so unable to spend much time outside. Otherwise, we couldn't have asked for a better stay.

The owners kept in contact prior to our trip lovely cottage beautiful gardens only downside was difficult to locate very rural Comfy beds log fire aga clean bedding and towels well stocked pantry

Great location, very private but close to amenities of Bideford. Great spot for the Tarka Trail & Westward Ho beaches etc. Good restaurants at Instow & Appledore 10 minutes away. Perfect place to unwind and the owners could not have been more helpful and accommodating.

Staying at Tom and Victoria's place was everything we could have hoped for and more. A lovely, warm, spacious house...beautiful gardens... peaceful countryside, huge night skies, what's not to like? (Oh and we all loved the badminton pitch.) Thanks Tom and Victoria for being great hosts.

This property was ideal for our family of 8 adults and 2 children. It is a beautiful house and it’s old world charm suited us. There were so many thoughtful things to do- games for the children and bikes and go carts and the use of buckets and spades. We loved the old kitchen with its long table where we ate and played games. We didn’t have the best weather but the house made up for it.

We were a group of 5 adults and 3 dogs celebrating our son’s 30th Birthday and it was perfect. The property is the most amazing, interesting place in a beautiful location. It is so full of character- of it’s type it is difficult to imagine anything better.

'Hollands' was a wonderful surprise when arriving and walking through the front door into a lovely cottage full of real charm. Kitchen breakfast area was warmed nicely via the Aga with a more modern electric cooker in the side kitchen area. The Aga was certainly capable of cooking a couple of fillet steaks and via the cast iron pan, fried off lovely on the Aga hob. The cottage is huge with many ways to go about the property, we were still finding rooms 24 hours later. All rooms were typically old farm cottage with wonky walls/ceilings and floors but it just adds to the charm and frankly what you would expect in such a property. With all that fresh air outside in the garden (and quite some areas to explore (the dog loved it), sleeping in the beds was easy, head hit pillow and :-)! We can see that accommodating 13 people is practical with ample space for all ( plenty of 'social gathering' space), wood burner gave a lovely end to each day, roaring away with ample supply of wood. The owners were caught out a bit due to a booking system hiccup (we called 2 days before to check all was ok and panic set in with the owners as we were the first people this year) but Tom was calm and got the whole place sorted for our arrival (including us getting slightly lost 100 yards away!) and lots of useful information on the surroundings, nothing seemed too much trouble. Sure, utensils/plates etc, are not new but in keeping with the place, oozes charm. Plenty of history to notice as you wander round. Might have to fight over the shower (one proper over bath item) and further bathroom and third loo but when there 'who wants to rush!!', water was hot (some taps are a long way from the tank but they get hot with a little running first) and for us was the perfect place to sit, enjoy and recharge and even tried out the tree house :-) Delivery drivers found the place ok with a bit of guidance (Sainsburys and Dominos!), in summary, exactly what we wanted.

Lovely house, cosy kitchen, fantastic for children to explore and good beds. Really enjoyed it (some good tips from the hosts as well).

This was the perfect house for our family of 7 adults and 2 children (2.5 and .5). There were cupboards of toys, DVds, beach toys, and lots of areas to sit outside. We were very fortunate with the weather and had most of our meals outside and BBQs. The stairs were a bit of a challenge for those less fleet of foot! But I loved the quirkiness of it and the feeling of a family home. We hope to return next year. Great beaches nearby for bucket and spading. All in all a great time was had by all. Great comms with owners before our arrival with info re shops, pubs, beaches, deliveries etc.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time away in this beautiful property. so much to tell you but overall, we would recommend this to people not too tall for some of the ceilings! We had the use of 3 bathrooms but honestly only one completely working shower. Just had to have a queuing system for 12 of us! Beautiful views, amazing garden and so much provided in the way of games for the kids, equipment for wellies, body boards etc Could do with a better sited washing line and a dryer, as well as more hanging space to dry clothes and towels. Aga a real boon but for some reason so many flies in the kitchen, we resorted to a traditional fly paper and this worked well. Lots for nooks and crannies to explore and the boys loved their secret bedroom. Need to be careful with the Devon high hedges and narrow roads but if you can manage that, you will love this place.

We enjoyed our stay at the property. It has a really stunning garden with wonderful views across the rolling landscape of the countryside. The house has lots of character and is very charming. We also enjoyed going to the beach, which is short drive away. It is not crowded and has a long stretch of sand to spend a whole day on.

The property was clean and spacious. Loved the big Kitchen and living room. Bedrooms were good and loved the garden

This is a delightful quirky cottage set in the middle of the Devonshire countryside yet close to nearby Bideford. The house and gardens have many nooks and crannies to explore and it was a joy to stay there.

Beautiful old thatched cottage in a quiet rural location, with plenty of room indoors and outside.

It is the most wonderful place for children - and adults. The garden has lots of places for hide-and-seek, surrounded by fields and sheep. The house is very homely and we managed to seat us all round the kitchen table which made us talk to each other much more than we usually do!

The Thatched property was situated in a stunning location amidst the North Devon countryside. The decor and ambience of the house were impressive. My youngest son was the first to arrive, access the key as we ate lunch in Instow and his first remarks were: " It's beautiful!" Our grandsons were delighted with exploration of the whole property and there were whoops of excitement as they discovered a 'secret passage' up to their two-tiered bedroom above the Green Room. The gardens were beautiful to sit and relax in with flowers everywhere. Our youngest son appreciated the view over all the surrounding countryside from the upstairs bathroom. We soon settled in and enjoyed every moment. It proved to be a very special and rewarding weekend. The owners of the property had been extremely helpful with knowledge of the surrounding area which we greatly appreciated. We booked a meal for everyone at the George in Appledore which was outstandingly excellent including the view across the water to Instow and the wonderful sunset. We spent our first day at Saunton Sands with the tide right out and the grandsons enjoyed learning to surf in wet suits with their parents - a wonderful expanse of sand. The following day we enjoyed exploring Hartland Quay and its amazing rock formations with strata upended not to mention rock pools and seal sightings and a tunnel through the rocks. The grandsons had a wonderful time spotting crabs and fishes and seals. They had only just finished filming 'Rebecca' for Netflix there we learnt in the bar. Time passed all too quickly but we enjoyed wonderful evenings in the garden and then tried an older version of 'Trivial Pursuits' in the toy cupboard since the grandsons had emptied out the toys from day one, much to their delight. By Monday we set off for a rewarding walk out to Baggy Point and back, said our farewells to family and my husband and I set off for the Lizard after an excellent lunch at the NT cafe there. All in all an unforgettable holiday and we would love to return. Many thanks to the owners fo the property who have maintained it so well and been so helpful in answer to all my questions and concerns.

Wonderful

We had a wonderful stay at the cottage over Easter. There was everything we needed to make a comfortable and enjoyable break. The cottage is full of nooks and crannies that the children loved and the garden is beautiful for everyone young and old.

Hollands is a quaint large country cottage which has elements of the Curate's Egg about it. The extended kitchen and breakfast room with an Aga and old pine tables is warm and inviting and likely to be the most used area in the house. The dining room with its large eclectic collection of well used books will take up to 12 for a sit down meal while the adjoining sitting room with a wood burning closed fire has a 2/3 seat sofa and 3 armchairs, so not sittable for a large group. The bedrooms are pleasantly old fashioned though a little curious in some places and there are two bathrooms only one of which has a shower over the bath, plus a separate lavatory. The kitchen utensils (saucepans/frying pans/casserole dishes) could do with a serious updating - aluminium pans for cooking are not totally without health issues - but it is possible to cook full blown meals for 12 people as we managed over Christmas. To be honest this is more a somewhat well used home (which the owners admit) than a well-stocked holiday house so if you are looking for a high end rental you might be disappointed. Our group loved the quirkiness and homely character of this house although some had to put their preconceptions in the back pocket. Given the time of year we made no use of the garden but it is not difficult to imagine this house and garden would become a gem in the summer. The owners (we were only in contact with Tom Shard) were extremely helpful with good suggestions for local amenities, beaches and pubs. Overall we gave this a 3 star for a combination of features some of which were 4 star and others a little under par.

A great place for a holiday for an extended family. Lots of space that hide! The garden is great although the weather meant we didn’t use it that much. A very quiet spot but Bideford is close by. All the rooms were nice and comfortable. Ceilings a bit low in places for those 6 foot plus. The kitchen is has plenty of plates, pots and pans. The cutlery is a bit old and could be replaced. WiFi doesn’t extend throughout. Overall, a great place to spend a week chilling out.

The Hollands is a lovely, characterful cottage in gorgeous surroundings. The house is an ecclectic mix of furniture and objects; they all work well together and there is everything that you’d need by the way of kitchen equipment. The owners couldn’t have been nicer or more accommodating with regards to helping us to organise different elements of our trip. I would definitely recommend this property and would stay again.